I received a Kodak V570 at CES last year. It quickly became my favorite camera due primarily to its key feature: the ultra wide lens.
The camera uses two lenses, coupled with two 5MP sensors, to provide an extremely useful focal range, while maintaining a conveniently thin form factor.
I’ve shot digital for ten years. I’ve always enjoyed the freedom of near-endless exposures, and the shot-guarantee of seeing the shot on the LCD as soon as you take it [instead of weeks later when you get a print].
But one bad aspect of consumer cameras that I got used to was the limited frame of view: the small sensors used in consumer cameras delivers the equivalent of a telephoto lens from a normal focal length lens.
A 35mm focal length is considered normal. Most cameras now have a 3x optical zoom that ranges from 35mm to 110mm or so -- normal to telephoto. Not wide.
[Those figures are “35mm equivalents” meaning they equate to lenses of such measurements on a 35mm film camera; the actual lenses differ, but the sensor is much smaller than film, and so… ]
The makers of consumer cameras have for the most part exasperated this by the increasing optical zooms from 3x to 10 or 12x lenses -- rarely going wider.
I’ve often shot multi-exposure panoramas -- pivoting as smoothly as I could, later painstakingly combining the shots into one wide image… useful, but not something I wanted to do regularly.
In 2001 or thereabouts, I shot a lot with a fish-eye lens adapter on a 1MP camera with a 3x optical lens: I zoomed in for the equivalent of an extreme wide angle. The shots were poorly exposed, distorted, and vignetted -- but I enjoyed the capability of capturing an entire scene in one exposure.
Then came the V570 and its 23mm lens. Ahh. that's the ticket.
Even 23mm does not let you capture as wide a field of view as you see: it does not come near to a 180-degree view [or whatever subset of that you can see]. But it is much more wide than most cameras, and I find it much more freeing to shoot with: I can photograph my whole family without all-but stepping out of the room; I can shoot my whole house while staying in my yard; even for landscapes, I love getting more of the overall environment into the shot.
My friend Dave Etchells has a good review -- with sample photos showing the wide angle difference -- on his Imaging Resource site.
You’ll note Dave’s reviewer does not rave about the photographic quality: it is not perfect by any means. But today “not perfect” can mean “plenty good enough.” I am more than satisfied with the V570’s shots. A colleague liked his so much that when he broke the first one, he bought another last month -- and he was a professional photographer and no stranger to judging image quality.
The camera is now available for a little over $200. I think it is well worth the money.
Some rezzed-down photos I took at a near-empty lake on Saturday:
After the jump:
An article profiling the Kodak engineer who came up with the idea for the dual-lens Retina system.
I wrote this for The Future Image Report [www/futureimage.com] in April this year.
RETINA DUAL LENS SYSTEM
The latest evolution in the EasyShare camera line is the combination of two lenses and two sensors into one imaging system — a technique Kodak calls “Retina” technology, after its long-ago line of lenses.
The dual-lens method debuted with the wide-angle V570 in January; and in April Kodak followed up with the EasyShare V610, billed as the world’s smallest camera with a 10x optical zoom lens.
The 610 combines two non-protruding prism lenses to deliver the 35mm equivalent of a 38 – 380mm zoom range in a package that is less than an inch thick: the camera measures 4.4 x 2.2 x 0.9 inches.
The $449 camera also has a 6MP resolution, Bluetooth wireless that transmits photos up to 30 feet, and a 2.8-inch LCD.
Both cameras captures TV-quality video at 30 frames per second with MPEG-4 compression, and video-specific image stabilization technology reduces on-screen shaking from unintentional hand and camera movement.
Interview:
Peter Labaziewicz, who is now Kodak’s Director of Advanced Development and Innovation for Digital Capture.
Here’s a chicken/egg kind of question: The dual-lens system allows for an extended focal range in a manner that is both cheaper and smaller than the equivalent range in a single-lens system. In its initial development, was your primary goal a smaller lens package, or lower-cost?
Labaziewicz: The dual lens allows you to do something you can't do with single lens, so it's hard to compare costs, but basically at more or less an equivalent cost, we can get an optical system that's roughly half the size of the smallest single-lens system out there right now.
So what was the primary motivation?
We were looking for a breakout.
We weren't' satisfied with putting out just another small, cute, 3x zoom camera with a few more megapixels, or making it a couple of millimeters thinner.
Our customer research had shown that wide angle and more zoom range were definitely two things customers were looking for. However, most people have come to assume that these qualities were not compatible with small size. So customers were resigning themselves to having to choose between a small pocketable camera, or a 10x zoom, or a camera with a wide angle with a big snout that you hang around your neck.
So there was a huge opportunity in putting these very desirable qualities together in a small pocketable body.
Initially we tried doing this with conventional approaches, but it really wasn't working out. We had several projects that tried to solve these problems from different angles. Those were cancelled, as we weren't happy with what we were achieving. You come up against physical limits.
We really didn't want something just a little incremental, you know, two millimeters thinner than the competition, or just a little better. We really wanted to break out, and come out with something unique and relevant to the consumer.
You can make incremental improvements — and in some cases some pretty significant incremental improvements — but it's hard to get that “Wow!”. And I'm not just talking about “wow” from the technology point of view — as opposed to some of the other more technology-focused companies, we really think of the customer experience. So this isn't gimmicky; these are features consumers really appreciate and want.
That's really the atmosphere that's creating these innovations.
And what sparked the flash of inspiration?
I was talking with a colleague about various ideas and the concept of multiple lenses came up. We dismissed it as not workable because you'd need all these mechanical systems to switch between the two lenses… But then I hit upon the idea. The price of image sensors has been coming down; why not just have two image sensors?
That's when we really had the Eureka moment.
We took a look at the problem; we did some engineering work; we did some layout work; and lo and behold, we were coming up with solutions that were way better than anything we could come up with in a conventional system.
As proof of that, you can see that our competitors are pursuing a more conventional strategy, vs. our more innovative breakout strategy, and even though they are pushing the technologies to the limit, they can't even come close to where we are with the dual lens.
Why were you the first to come up with this concept? It seems obvious in hindsight…
You know, whenever someone comes up with and idea, you see it and say, "Why didn't I think of that?" Someone always has to think of it first. With the emphasis we have on innovation here at Kodak, we're being pushed very hard to ensure that we don't just incrementally improve over our competition. We're pushed to use our unique consumer insight and the technology we have in our research labs and our engineering divisions to innovate beyond just incremental improvements.
Is the basic concept of the dual-lens system patentable? If so, are they defensible? And do they cover the use of two lenses, or the idea of dual sensors?
Yes, we have patents pending. They are definitely defensible.
The specific patent was for application of dual lenses and dual sensors in digital still cameras.
There's history of cameras in general with two lenses going back many years. But having two lenses and two image planes, and specifically the application for digital still cameras — that's the unique portion of this.
Can we look forward to a camera that offers both the wide angle of the 570 with the extreme telephoto of the new model?
Those are two qualities that customers have told us are very desirable, so...
This is just a start. We're not happy where we are, and we will keep pushing the innovation and giving you more and better things to come.
We definitely will be combining aspects of this technology, and a lot of different applications are possible.
You could have a black and white image and a color image, or you could take video and stills at the same time. There are many possibilities.
Once you have two sensors, and two optical systems, there's a lot you can do.
The dual lens also allows us to optimize quality at different focal lengths. So we end up with a higher quality optical system, which is much smaller than anything you can do with one lens.
So not only is it a 38-380; you're saying it provides better image quality at different parts of that focal length than an equivalent larger lens would be able to do?
Yes, because it allows us to optimize lenses for different problems that are present at the different zoom ranges: wide-angle lenses have problems that are very different than those of telephoto lenses. By splitting the optical system in two, you end up with a much simpler solution, and you can optimize for each problem set, as opposed to making compromises in one lens.
You also get a quicker "on" time, since you don't have to extend the lens. And it gives you a pocketable camera, and it prevents damage to the lenses.
Have you attempted to use the dual-lens system to synthesize better dynamic range, by simultaneously taking an under- and an over-exposed image and combining them in-camera?
Yes, those are all ideas we are looking at right now. In the first implementation, we simply used the dual lenses to extend the focal length, but with simultaneous capture of two images, there are a lot of different possibilities.
Where did the name for the system come from?
“Retina” historically has been a name associated with Kodak lenses; our Retina cameras, all the way up to the 1950's and early 60's, were in a class comparable to Leicas and Zeiss Optics. In those days, Kodak was in a very wide range of cameras. So with this optics and imaging innovation, we decided to apply a name to it that talks about our heritage.
And by the way, actually, we have started applying some other technologies in our cameras -- for example, in the V610 we incorporated a new advanced noise reduction system that we developed at Kodak which allows us to shoot at higher ISOs and reduce camera shake by shooting at faster shutter speeds. That's what enables us to get such a high zoom range and such a long telephoto in such a small body without camera shake problems.
How long did it take, from the time that you first came up with the dual-sensor idea, to get a product to market? What were the major obstacles that you had to overcome both in the design and the manufacturing?
The train ride occurred in late 2003.
At the start, there was initial disbelief. When you walk into the engineering office and you show them the goals for the ultra-wide 5x and the telephoto 10x, the first reaction was “No way, it's impossible...”
The optical systems are very very small and tiny. We had to work very hard on the designs to get them to fit within the goals we'd set for ourselves. We didn't emphasize just size: we had goals for appearance, for symmetry.
There were also, as usual, folks who were a little scared by the different looks and different features, so we had to do a lot of consumer research, which fortunately came back very very positive. We had the highest concept scores that we've ever seen.
So eventually everything just came together very well.
The goal here was to get this technology and work with our design group to package it in a unique attractive design, and really come out with a package that was a combination of beautiful design, unique design, and a combination of features that the customer just couldn't resist… We hope.
Comments